Hibernian welcome Aberdeen to Easter Road on Saturday in a clash that could be decided by two Celtic loanees.

Hoops-owned playmakers Scott Allan and Ryan Christie could go head-to-head in the centre of the park and, 24 hours before Celtic play St Johnstone at Parkhead, Brendan Rodgers will be keeping a close eye on events in Edinburgh. Because you could make a case for both Allan and Christie (below) deserving a second chance at Celtic.

Allan has been a major disappointment since moving from Hibs in 2015, but has immediately found his form again since returning to his former club in January. He was sensational in the recent 2-1 victory at Rangers, gaining the match-winning penalty.

And Christie has restored his repuation as one of the most exciting talents in Scottish football since moving to Aberdeen on loan initially in January 2017. And the former Inverness wonderkid grabbed his 12th assist of the season with a glorious cross in the Scottish Cup win against Dundee United at the weekend.

In fact, Scott Sinclair is the only player in Celtic’s ranks who has set up more goals in 2017/18 than Christie – which speaks volumes about the lack of creativity and cutting edge that has seen the Champions’ form dip dramatically in recent times.

The likes of Stuart Armstrong and Olivier Ntcham have been inconsistent this season, while Kundai Benyu and Eboue Kouassi simply aren’t ready.

So Rodgers may want to take a break from his St Johnstone preparations to check on the progress of both Allan and Christie on Saturday. Both players possessing plenty of the attributes that Celtic are currently missing.

Danny Owen

Daniel is a Journalist graduate from Leeds Trinity University and is generally obsessed with everything football related. Daniel watches everything from Augsburg in the Bundesliga to Vitesse in the Eredivisie with as much La Liga as possible thrown in for good measure.